Lake George, N.Y. – The passengers aboard a tour boat that capsized on Lake George, killing 20 people, were sitting in portable, plastic seats that slid sharply to one side of the vessel just before it flipped over, authorities said today.

Wayne Bennett, State Police superintendent, said that investigators still do not know what initially caused the Ethan Allen to tip. But he said survivors reported that the unfastened plastic, slat benches moved rapidly to one side before the boat went over in the chilly mountain lake.

“And that of course would automatically mean an even bigger shift of weight,” Bennett said.

The captain of the boat told authorities it was hit by waves from at least one other vessel and turned over as he tried to steer out of them, authorities said earlier today. The boat flipped so fast that none of the 47 passengers could put on a life jacket.

Eight people were hospitalized.

There was no immediate confirmation that another boat that could have kicked up waves was in the area, and survivors were giving investigators differing versions of what happened, authorities said.

Gov. George Pataki said licenses for two other boats operated by the Ethan Allen’s owner, Shoreline Cruises, have been suspended while the investigation into Sunday’s accident continues. He and others, however, said people should not draw any conclusions about the operator.

“I do not believe there is any criminal culpability on any of the parties we have spoken with,” said Sheriff Larry Cleveland.

A survivor, 76-year-old old Jeane Siler of Trenton, Mich., said she saw a wake coming and the boat turned into it. She said she stood up and was either thrown or jumped into the water, where she found herself surrounded by other passengers.

“I touched something,” she said at Glens Falls Hospital, where she was treated for broken bones in the spine, a broken finger and bumps on her head. “It might have been another body, I don’t know.” Virgil Chambers, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council, an organization for recreational boaters, said he was not familiar with the specifics of the Ethan Allen but said investigators would probably examine how weight was distributed within the boat.

“If all the people were on one side, maybe to look at something, and if the operator were to take the boat over a wave at a particular angle, it could cause the boat to roll,” Chambers said.

Chambers said he also expected investigators to look into whether there were any modifications to the covered, glass-enclosed craft, such as the addition of a canopy structure, that might have made the boat less stable.

New York state boating regulations require a life jacket for every person on a boat, but people do not have to wear them.

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